Posting of Workers Before National Courts

Abstract

Intra-EU employee posting remains a politically and legally contentious matter that continues to feature on the agendas of lawmakers, trade unions and researchers alike. Numerous cases brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), as well as recent and ongoing revisions of the posting-related EU legal framework, suggest that problems are arising from clashing legal competences, weak enforcement and the breach and/or circumvention of posted workers’ rights. Furthermore, until now there were virtually no accounts detailing issues related to the application of posting legislation in disputes at the national level.

This book fills that gap by offering a comparative analysis of national case law on posting-related matters in 11 EU Member States: Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia. The individual chapters focus on the main debates at the national level and the available case law, with a particular focus on who litigates, in which situations and exactly about what.

In view of the limited extent of posting, the intensity of the debate on the issue and the significant body of existing related case law is a striking and rather surprising finding. The evidence presented in the book shows that cross-border service provision and posting have sparked extensive discussions on workers’ rights, permissible company practices, and, more broadly, the balance between social protection and market freedom in the EU. The analysis of the case law reveals that there is a need to clarify basic terms and legal constructs related to posting because currently there are still doubts concerning the interpretation and application of EU and national rules on cross-border mobility.

Keywords: Posting, Mobility, Labour Law, Services, European Union, Single market, Workers

JEL Classification: K31, K41, J46, J80, J83